Gaming terminals, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options.
LCDs (liquid crystal displays) have long been incorporated into gaming machines to enhance the flexibility of the displayed wagering games. However, some players prefer to see mechanical reels rather than a video rendering of a slot machine game, in part due to the more traditional appearance and perceived trustworthiness of the rotating mechanical slot reels. Utilization of mechanical reels makes the wagering game more enjoyable for such players, but limits the ability of the wagering game machine to present computer graphics and animation to enhance the theme of the wagering game or to provide other information, and so may be less entertaining to players than a wagering game utilizing a touchscreen LCD wagering game system.
Various transmissive displays in conjunction with mechanical reels have been proposed for various gaming platforms. However, such displays are tailored to a specific game and a specific number of reels. Changing games in such platforms is cumbersome and generally requires the replacement of the display if the game format is changed to an exclusively video format or an exclusively mechanical slot reel format (whether actual reels or simulated mechanical reels) or a mechanical slot reel format allowing different numbers of reels.